These were found in an antique-vendor's booth, in a sandwich-bag labeled "Pictures taken in York, PA 1938-1945."
First up are a pair of photographs that have the caption "Pistol Range ------ Sept. 1942" typed onto the back. There is no other information.
The third snapshot has a circular "Masters Photo Finishers of America" stamp on the back and was printed at Sweigart's, on 278-280 West Market Street in York. The date, also stamped, is April 29, 1940.
This bucolic linen postcard showcases Santa Cruz Falls, a waterfall with a drop of about 300 feet in the Catskill Mountains near Haines Falls, New York. This lesser-known and mostly inaccessible spot apparently got its name from a bottle of Santa Cruz Rum that was left behind by hunters, according to CatskillMountaineer.com.
The waterfall is located in an uncleared region prone to landslides and is entirely on private land, so the only safe and legal ways to view it are from afar. Or via vintage linen postcards.1
A safer and legal spot of natural beauty to visit in that region is Kaaterskill Falls, if you have a hankering for a waterfall field trip.
This postcard was published by The Kingston News Service of Kingston, New York, and it was postmarked on July 17, 1946, bound for an address in Union, New York. The short note states:
"Hi ya folks,
Having a swell time, it sure is beautiful up here. Will be home soon, as this can't last forever but we sure wish it could.
Love
Mary & Paul"
Footnote
1. So, to be abundantly clear, don't go chasing waterfalls. It is the official stance of Papergreat that you should stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to.
This vibrant advertisement appeared on the inside front cover of issue #53 of Dragon magazine, which was published in September 1981, when the Smurfs, Entertainment Tonight and Serena Williams were just entering the world.
The artwork — with its Godzilla stand-in, panicked white people, and way-oversized post office — is by George Barr.
"Crush, Crumble and Chomp!" was a computer game published by Epyx in 1981 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and TRS-80. Later, there was a version for the Commodore 64, the home computer that took the world by storm in 1982.
CC & C was designed by Jon Freeman and J.W. Connelley, according to its original manual, which you can view here in PDF format. According to the magazine ad copy, players would get to "terrorize and destroy four of the world's largest and most densely populated cities in over 100 possible scenarios. From Tokyo to the Golden Gate, you are the deadliest creature in the air, on the land, or in the sea."
There was clearly no fear of kaiju copyright infringement. According to Wikipedia, the playable creatures included Goshilla, The Kraken, Archnis, The Glob, Mechismo and Mantra, which was basically Mothra, which doesn't make any sense because Mothra is a peaceful monster.
The price of the game, per this advertisement, was $29.95, which equates to about $82 today, which is way more than a new copy of, say, "God of War" will cost you in 2018. Here's a look at the CC & C gameplay on the Atari 8-bit...
The game was generally well-received, it seems. Science-fiction author Jerry Pournelle (1933-2017) wrote in 1984 that "there's something exceedingly attractive about burning down and stomping the Pentagon flat, and in general making an even bigger mess of Washington than the politicians have." To read a good collection of memories and reviews of CC & C, check out this 2011 post on James Maliszewski's Grognardia website.
As for me, CC & C was a few years before my home-computer heyday. But Epyx released a similar game in 1986 called "The Movie Monster Game," and I remember playing that on my Commodore 64, when I got bored of Ultima IV and MicroLeague Baseball and just wanted to cause some mindless mayhem.
Featured below are some illustrations from Principles of Clothing Selection, which was written by Helen Goodrich Buttrick and illustrated by Gertrude Spaller Kinder. This edition was published by The Macmillan Company in 1924, and this particular book, many moons ago, was part of the curriculum for the Palmyra Borough School District. "Parents and Guardians will see that proper care if taken of this book," states part of the red stamping on the inside front cover.
Here is an excerpt from the preface:
"This book is designed as a textbook for high-school courses in clothing and costume design. It should prove useful also in agricultural colleges and in other colleges where home economics is taught, but where the majority of the students come from high schools offering no elementary training in this subject."
Chapter titles and subtitles include:
Factors changing our standards of clothing selection
The important structural lines of garments
The place of color in life
Different types of color harmony
The red-haired type
Modifying unbecoming color
Factors affecting the silhouette
Cost as a factor in choice of fabrics
Coiffures for different types of heads
Hats becoming to different types of head and face
Clothing appropriate to the age of the wearer
Hygienic values of different fibres
The origin of rapid changes of fashion
The effect of rapid changes of fashion on the consumer
The place of old clothes in the wardrobe
Here is a selection of Gertrude Spaller Kinder's illustrations...
Continuing a recent tradition, here are some of the cool moments I've had recently thanks to Postcrossing, an international postcard-exchange community.
Shown above is one of a handful of postcards that found their way to my mailbox this month. It's from Gustav, a harmonica-playing grandfather of three who lives in Switzerland. The postcard shows an illustration depicting bucolic life in the canton of Appenzell. The postcard illustrator is Andy Fischli.
I also received dandy postcards from Russia and Germany.
Rina, a young mother living in Saint Petersburg and likes journaling and theater, writes: "Hello, Chris. Most of the older people in Russia prefer to watch TV at New Year's Eve. Our parents' generation like to cook a lot of food and after president's greetings go for a walk, congratulate each other and play off (or just watch) fireworks!"
And this note was written on a modern postcard showcasing Heidelberg Castle: "Hi Chris! My name is Retno. I am an Indonesian who [is] studying in Bonn, Germany. Here's the picture of Heidelberg castle. It's 4 hours away from Bonn by train. The castle was built in 1214 and located in hillside. Therefore, we can see the view of the city from above. Hope you'll like it."
* * *
Meanwhile, these are some of the emailed notes of thanks that I have received from Postcrossers who I mailed cards to:
Johanna in the Netherlands wrote: "Thank you very much for this card and stamps! My cats are called Amaril and Mijanou. Please caress your cats with their creative names from me!"
Svenja in Germany wrote: "Thx for your lovely postcard. It was my very very first postcrossing postcard. And now I know a new word: ephemera. Peace."
Luna in China wrote: "Hi Chris! Thanks for your nice postcard and special stamps! I really love it. Now I'm reading the Harry Potter series with a dictionary. I like The Big Bang Theory very much!"
Marcus in Germany wrote: "Guten Tag Chris, greetings from the cold Germany. Thank you for your nice postcard and the great stamps. Never been in Pennsylvania but think it's a great country with a great nature. I know a movie with Johnny Depp: Sleepy Hollow. But I like more movies Out of Africa or Notting Hill."
Irina in Russia wrote: "Thank you for your card and such an interesting story about yourself! Always thought the profession of a journalist is very interesting. If I ever go to the United States, I really want to get to a football match, I think it's unforgettable emotions."
Beate in Germany wrote: "Hello Chris! Thanks a lot for your postcard with the interesting stamps. It arrived today. I enjoyed reading your text. It's nice to have such interesting hobbies as you have, it seems that you are a 'bookworm'. Cats are very nice animals. All the best for you."
If you're looking for a new recipe to whip together in your kitchen this weekend, how about taking your lead from this 1973 Russian (Soviet) recipe card? It was basically from their Brezhnev-era version of the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library, as featured in so many American TV commercials and magazine advertisements of the 1970s.1
I'm not sure if there was specifically a USSR version of Betty Crocker. These days in Russian, though, it's chef Vladimir Mukhin getting high praise. But I digress.
This 3½-inch-wide card features a picture of салат "чимчик тили", which translates to Salad "Chimchik Tili." Other than telling us that it's a salad, which we can already see from the image, that's not very helpful. So what is the recipe? That's where RussianFood.com helps out, with the following translated recipe/description:
Salad "Chimchik Tili"
Peeled onions, washed salted or marinated cucumbers cut into small cubes. Fill with black pepper, wine vinegar, mix, put in a salad bowl. Salad decorate with mugs of cucumbers and onions. From above you can sprinkle with herbs.
It will surely be a hit at your summer block party! (Or your Bloc Party ... get it? That was a free joke for the Russian bots that follow Papergreat.)
Price these days: Used copies can be found for about $4.
Pages: 213
Format: Hardcover
Dust-jacket blurb: "Have you ever attended a bang-up country auction? Even if you haven't you can hardly resist entering the bidding as Mrs. Bailey places a locked trunk on the block. Does it contain things of great value or is it filled with just plain junk? Emma Bailey needed spirit and character to enter a field long dominated by men. Fortunately she also had the faith and active support of her husband and two daughters. So nothing stopped her — shady competition, social criticism or lack of funds. Her account of her adventures is most intriguing. In addition Mrs. Bailey shows you what to look for in furniture, glassware and other desirable items, how to bid like a professional and ways to outwit sharp traders. She tells her story with high good humor."
First sentence: "Ladies and gentlemen," I began, "welcome to the first auction at the Bailey place on Black Mountain Road."
Excerpt from last paragraph: In closing, both Jack and I want to extend a welcome to you, should you ever be in this vicinity [Brattleboro, Vermont]. ... Drive for a mile until you come to a red colonial house with white trim. Our mail box has our name marching across the top.
Random excerpt from middle: If Bibles cannot be bid on, then what can be done with them? To destroy them would compound the desecration. And yet every home in these parts has a Bible. The problem is solved without offense to even the most saintly by leaving the Bible with the other books and selling them as a lot. If a Bible is already in a trunk, it is left with whatever else is there, and the trunk is put up for auction.
Goodreads review excerpt: In 2012, Phyllis wrote: "...it was interesting reading about the whole auction scene, types of bidders, and some of the problems of being an auctioneer. A real grandma's house type read, seemingly lost in the mists of time."
Excerpt from Kirkus review: "This account of Emma Bailey's move to Vermont, where eventually she became Brattleboro's first woman auctioneer overcoming the resistance to her sex, the doubts of her husband and the suspicions of the natives, provides a catchall of experiences, people and of course things — and it has a genuine human interest."
Note: Emma Bailey, who died in 1999, has her own Wikipedia page, so you don't have to take her book's word that she was famous.
Bonus: The bookplate
Roberta Swann was born circa 1925, graduated from Camp Hill High School, received a scholarship to study journalism and art at Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham) in Pittsburgh, at some point became Roberta Swann Tipton, and was involved in some community theater in southcentral Pennsylvania circa 1970. That's all I have at this time.
Ruins Park is the graffiti-covered "bones" of the former Enterprise Furniture Company warehouse located in downtown Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. In its colorful and inspiring new life, it serves as an event venue and off-the-beaten-path destination for travelers seeking something a little different.
I first learned about it from Wendyvee's Roadside Wonders, and you can read some more about this "wonder" on that website, where you can also lose yourself in a zillion other cool things. (Go surf it. I'll wait here in this tab.)
Sarah and I took a trip to Ruins Park last week, when the sun was still shining in York County and before the endless rains descended upon us.
Here are some of my Instagram snaps from that groovy expedition...
